Cleveland health officials offer free lead-screening tests

By Alison Young, USA TODAY

Cleveland health department officials offered free blood tests Saturday to check children living near a former lead smelting site for signs of lead poisoning.

By Jason MIller, for USA TODAY

Ken Shefton and his 6-year-old son, Jonathan, take a break from moving items out of their old home in Cleveland on April 17. Shefton was shocked to learn from USA TODAY how high the lead levels were in the yard of his house.

Ken Shefton and his 6-year-old son, Jonathan, take a break from moving items out of their old home in Cleveland on April 17. Shefton was shocked to learn from USA TODAY how high the lead levels were in the yard of his house.

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Testing took place at three locations near the former Tyroler Metals smelter site using the city's health mobile. Meanwhile, volunteers canvassed neighborhoods with educational brochures about lead poisoning and ways residents can protect themselves.

"Lead screening is a very important preventive measure to help our parents know if there is a risk posed to their children," Karen Butler, director of Cleveland Department of Public Health, told WKYC-TV. "If I were a parent living in one of those neighborhoods, I would certainly want someone to come to my home to share information, to address my question — so that's what we're doing today."

The outreach activities were in response to a recent USA TODAY investigation that revealed government officials have known for years neighborhood yards were contaminated with high levels of lead — but residents were never warned.

The Tyroler Metals site was one of more than 230 forgotten lead factories featured in USA TODAY's investigation published last month. A smelter operated at the site from about 1927 to 1957, records show. Smelting no longer occurs at the site, which is now a scrap yard with different owners.

In 2002 and 2003, state regulators from the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency tested 12 samples of soil around the old site and in the nearby neighborhood. All but one showed lead contamination above the EPA's residential hazard level of 400 parts per million (ppm) for lead in bare soil where children play. Nine of the samples had lead levels ranging from twice to five times the hazard level, records show.

The results indicated a possible fallout zone onto a neighborhood northeast of the former smelter, the state's report said. But the regulators said it would be difficult to prove Tyroler smelter was the source since their research identified that other smelters had been on adjacent properties dating back to 1912 and that a currently operating lead-manufacturing plant was nearby.

But the Ohio EPA never warned the neighborhood. Instead it sent its report in 2003-04 to the U.S. EPA and the Cleveland health department. But neither took any actions until USA TODAY's report — which included results of the newspaper's own soil tests that found elevated levels of lead in nearby yards.

Health director Karen Butler said the city began canvassing neighborhoods around the Tyroler Metals site on April 20, the day after the site was featured on the front page of USA TODAY. More than 600 pieces of lead poisoning prevention literature have been given out to area residents.

The city also is convening a Lead Task Force, with representatives from several city departments. The initial focus will be on whether soil cleanups are needed around any of the former lead smelting sites in the city, she said.

Meanwhile, the city met recently with representatives of the U.S. EPA and Ohio EPA to see what can be done to address the old factory sites, said city spokeswoman Andrea Taylor.

The EPA, in a statement, said it is reviewing information about the former Tyroler site and will be discussing with the Ohio EPA and city health officials whether additional action is warranted.

Contributing: Yamiche Alcindor

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